Knowledge Update

​Lisbon, June 24 (IANS) Portugal's stock market fell to 20-year-lows in early trading Friday as a reaction to the UK's referendum decision to leave the European Union (EU).

The PSI-20 principal index fell close to 11 per cent to 4.17 points in early trading, its lowest level since January 1996, EFE news reported.

​London, June 24 (IANS) BlackBerry, the Canadian mobile company sold just 5 lakh phones globally in the first fiscal quarter - down from six lakh in the previous quarter - reporting a $670 million loss which is its biggest loss in over two years.

​New York, June 24 (IANS) An international team of researchers has discovered a simple, accurate new blood test that can predict the chances of Type 2 diabetes in women with gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes occurs in three to 13 per cent of all pregnant women and increases a woman's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 20 to 50 per cent within five years after pregnancy, the study said.

Using the novel technique called targeted metabolomics, the scientists tested the fasting blood samples of 1,035 women diagnosed with gestational diabetes, within two months after delivery.

Typically, diabetes is diagnosed by measuring blood sugar levels in the form of glucose, an important fuel used by cells in the body. 

However, the metabolomics test identified several other metabolites that indicate early changes that signify future diabetes risk long before changes in glucose levels occur.

The method showed 83 per cent accuracy in predicting women who would develop Type 2 diabetes.

Further, the technique predicted the development of Type 2 diabetes significantly better than the conventional methods of a fasting blood test followed by the time-consuming and inconvenient oral glucose tolerance test.

Once diabetes has developed, it's very difficult to reverse, thus "early prevention is the key to minimising the devastating effects of diabetes on health outcomes," said Erica Gunderson, Research Scientist with the Kaiser Permanente - a health care company, in the US. 

"By identifying women soon after delivery, we can focus our resources on those at greatest risk who may benefit most from concerted early prevention efforts," Gunderson added.

The new method may also be able to predict individuals who may develop Type 2 diabetes in the general population, the authors noted.

The findings, published in the journal Diabetes, would allow health care providers to identify women at greatest risk and help motivate women to make early lifestyle changes and follow other strategies that could prevent them from developing the disease later in life.​

​London, June 24 (IANS) Scientists from University of Bristol have found a new bio-ink for 3D printing with stem cells that allows printing of living tissue known as bio-printing.

The new bio-ink contains two different polymer components: a natural polymer extracted from seaweed and a sacrificial synthetic polymer used in the medical industry.

"Designing the new bio-ink was extremely challenging. You need a material that is printable, strong enough to maintain its shape when immersed in nutrients and that is not harmful to the cells. We managed to do this," said lead researcher Adam Perriman from school of cellular and molecular medicine.

The synthetic polymer causes the bio-ink to change from liquid to solid when the temperature is raised and the seaweed polymer provides structural support when the cell nutrients are introduced.

"The special bio-ink formulation was extruded from a retrofitted benchtop 3D printer, as a liquid that transformed to a gel at 37 degrees Celsius, which allowed construction of complex living 3D architectures," Perriman added.

The findings, published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, could help printing complex tissues using the patient's own stem cells for surgical bone or cartilage implants, which could be used in knee and hip surgeries.

The team was able to differentiate the stem cells into osteoblasts -- a cell that secretes the substance of bone cells that have secreted the matrix of cartilage and become embedded in it -- to engineer 3D printed tissue structures over five weeks, including a full-size tracheal cartilage ring.

"What was really astonishing for us was when the cell nutrients were introduced, the synthetic polymer was completely expelled from the 3D structure, leaving only the stem cells and the natural seaweed polymer," Perriman noted. 

This created microscopic pores in the structure which provided more effective nutrient access for the stem cells.​

New York, June 24 (IANS) A team of researchers has created a "virtual heart" that could help medical researchers study new drug therapies.

Researchers from the University of California - San Diego have created a detailed computer model of the electrophysiology of congestive heart failure -- a leading cause of death -- that can simulate subtle changes from the cellular and tissue levels of the heart then show the results of the associated electrocardiogram (ECG).

According to the results, published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, the model can show what happens to the heart when the levels and flow of calcium, potassium and sodium ions are changed. 

At the organ level, the researchers created an anatomically detailed model of the heart which shows the big picture of what happens when various critical chemicals and electrophysiologic components of a healthy working heart are tweaked.

The team also found that ventricular fibrillation, where the waves of excitation that pump blood out of the heart become fragmented and discoordinated, can be caused by a heart failure-related slowdown in cellular processes at the top (basal) region of heart. 

The researchers also used their model to plan a new drug strategy against this heart failure form of fibrillation.​

​Beijing, June 23 (IANS) China launched its first "dark sky reserve" for astronomical observation in the Tibetan prefecture of Ngari, bordering Nepal and India, officials said on Thursday.

The reserve covers an area of 2,500 sq.km and aims to limit light pollution by stepping up protection of dark-sky resources for education and tourism development, the China Daily reported.

It was jointly launched by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation and the regional government of Tibet.

Wang Wenyong, head of the legal affairs department with the foundation, said in a news briefing that the launch of the preserve is only the first step in protecting the area from light pollution.

The reserve will also try to seek accreditation from the International Dark-Sky Association, a non-profit organisation based in the US that is devoted to preserving and protecting the night time environment and dark skies globally.

Wang Xiaohua, head of the Chinese branch of the International Dark-Sky Association and a leader of the Ngari reserve programme, said such areas were important for promoting astronomy.

Ngari is among the best sites for astronomical observation on earth, due to its high altitude and large number of cloudless days throughout the year.

However, the recent inflow of people from other areas has given rise to increasing urbanisation, and thus the associated risk of more light pollution.

"If we do not take action now to preserve the area, we risk losing one of the best astronomical sites on earth," said Wang.

The foundation has also signed an agreement with authorities in Tibet's Nagchu prefecture to establish a night sky park, which will feature limited lighting facilities and a special area for astronomical observation.​

New York, June 23 (IANS) Bosses please take note. If you find an employee looking at Facebook, it may actually means a break for him or her from tiredness at work. According to a new survey, workers use social media at work for many reasons and taking a mental break is one of the most common one.

Nearly 34 percent of the people surveyed said they use social media at work to take a mental break from their job, revealed a Pew Research Centre survey of 2,003 US adults.

“These digital platforms offer the potential to enhance worker productivity by fostering connections with colleagues and resources around the globe,” the survey said.

At the same time, employers might worry that employees are using these tools for non-work purposes while on the job or engaging in speech in public venues that might reflect poorly on their organisation.

“While 27 per cent use social media to connect with friends and family while at work, 24 per cent use it to make or support professional connections,” the findings showed.

Twenty per cent go to social media to get information that helps them solve problems at work while 17 percent use it to build or strengthen personal relationships with coworkers.

“Some 14 per cent of workers have found information on social media that has improved their professional opinion of a colleague; at the same time, a similar share (16 per cent) have found information on social media that has lowered their professional opinion of a colleague,” the survey said.

Younger workers are more likely to find information on social media that changes their opinion of a coworker.

Some 23 percent of workers ages 18 to 29 report that they have discovered information on social media that improved their professional opinion of a colleague.

Many workers report that their employers have policies about social media use on the job, or about how employees may present themselves in various online spaces.

Half of all full-time and part-time workers (51 per cent) say their workplace has rules about using social media while at work (45 per cent say their employer does not have these policies), while 32 percent report that their employer has policies about how employees may present themselves on the internet in general (63 per cent say their employer does not have these policies).

Workers whose employers have at-work social media policy are less likely to use social media for personal reasons while on the job, the findings showed.

Seventy-eight per cent of workers who use social media platforms for work-related purposes say social media is useful for networking or finding new job opportunities.

“In the end, a majority (56 per cent) of these workers believe that using social media ultimately helps their job performance. One-in-five (22 per cent) believe that it mostly hurts, 16 per cent feel that it doesn’t have much impact either way and 4 per cent see both the benefits and the drawbacks,” the researchers noted.

Indeed, some 17 per cent of workers report that they “hardly ever” use the internet on a typical day for work-related tasks while 25 per cent report that they “never” use the internet for this reason.​

​Seoul, June 23 (IANS) South Korea-based educational startup BeNative has launched CashEnglish, an app that rewards users with real cash for playing educational games.

The app is available in Hindi, English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Korean, with more languages coming up soon, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

London, June 22 (IANS) Children who focus more on physical activities, especially outdoor games, will have improved academic successes and reduced obesity level in an early age, new research says.

The findings showed that the physical activity levels of children are continuing to fall well short of recommended levels, which can harm their health as well as academic attainment.

They are spending far more time in front of the screens than the maximum recommendation of only two hours a day, which needs to be reduced, the study said.

"The amount of time children spend in front of screens has had an impact on their wellbeing for many years. The popularity of computer games and the emergence of the internet, smartphones and social media have contributed further to this problem,” said lead author John Reilly, Professor at University Of Strathclyde in Scotland.

Strategies to promote physical activity and reduce screen time should place a higher emphasis on playing actively outdoors, something children could potentially do 365 days a year, the researchers suggested.

"Playing benefits children in helping them to develop socially and emotionally, so promoting active outdoor play would have many benefits in addition to improving physical activity, improving academic attainment and reducing obesity," Reilly noted.​

​Stockholm, June 23 (IANS) Sweden on Wednesday inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road, making it one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads.

The test will be conducted on parts of road E16, and involves a current collector on the roof of the truck cab feeding the current down to a hybrid electric motor in the truck, according to a press release from the country's transport administration Trafikverket, Xinhua reported.

"Electric roads will bring us one step closer to fossil fuel-free transports, and has the potential to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions. This is one way of developing environmentally smart transports in the existing road network. It could be a good supplement to todays road and rail network," said Lena Erixon, director general of Trafikverket.

"Electric roads are one more piece of the puzzle in the transport system of the future, especially for making the heavy transport section fossil fuel-free over the long term. This project also shows the importance of all the actors in the field cooperating," said Erik Brandsma, director general of the Swedish Energy Agency.

The tests will continue up through 2018. They will provide knowledge of how electric roads work in practice, and whether the technology can be used in the future. The experiment is based on the governments goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030, and will contribute to strengthening Swedens competitiveness.

Three government agencies, Swedish Transport Administration, Swedish Energy Agency, and the country's innovation agency Vinnova, are partially funding the project, while the participants are paying for the rest. ​